Twitter has suffered a major outage, leaving many users unable to access the popular social media platform.

Some users attempting to log on to the microblogging site late on Wednesday were greeted with an error message.

Downdetector, which tracks website outages, said it had received more than 8,700 user reports of problems with the site as of 7:30am EST (12:30 pm GMT).

“User reports indicate Twitter is having problems since 7:13 EST,” Downdetector said in a tweet.

The outage, which appears to be affecting multiple countries, has not brought down the site completely, with many users still able to access the platform. Some users also reported differences in performance between the desktop and mobile versions of the platform.

Elon Musk, who brought Twitter in October for $44bn, tweeted late on Wednesday that the site, “Works for me.”

The outage appeared to have eased within several hours of its occurrence, with Downdetector collecting just 774 user reports of errors as of 10:11pm EST.

The outage is the latest example of turmoil at Twitter since Musk’s takeover, which has polarised the platform’s users.

Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and one of the world’s richest men, has slashed the platform’s workforce, introduced a paid subscriber service and overseen controversial changes to its moderation policies, which he has cast as a win for free speech.

While Musk’s ownership of the platform has been welcomed by conservatives who have long complained of Twitter’s alleged bias towards liberal views, many figures on the left have expressed concerns about the proliferation of hate speech and misinformation under his reign.

Musk’s focus on the platform, where he regularly posts his thoughts about current events, has also raised concerns among investors in Tesla, whose share price has plummeted nearly 70 percent this year.

Earlier this month, Musk said he would step down as Twitter’s chief executive once a replacement was found, after users voted for him to go in a poll he created. (Al Jazeera)

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